Gaming seems destined to become an ever-increasingly expensive hobby, The prices of consoles, PC parts and the actual games themselves continue to rise and show no sign of easing pressure on the wallet.

Whether it’s because of the global RAM shortage or corporations chasing larger profits, everywhere gamers look they’re being stung by rising costs. Thankfully, there are some ways that us videogame lovers can claw back some cash in the pursuit of a new game. One forgotten method has even helped Steam players save up for new adventures on their gaming PC setup.

Over on Reddit, one Steam gamer has shared his clever tip on earning more cash via the platform.

Saying it “felt like equivalent of digging through the couch cushions”, Reddit user u/Responsible_Web_3825 posted advice to fellow gamers.

They wrote: PSA: If you play on Steam, sell your marketable items in your inventory.

“Every little bit adds up! Within 5 days I had saved enough for Space Marine 2!”

How it works

The way the method works is that over time, playing games on Steam earns items in your digital inventory.

Steam will give you things like trading cards or skins, crates or cases for games like Team Fortress 2 or Counter Strike.

The platform’s built-in community market offers a place for players to sell these items to each other using real money, which is then converted into Steam Wallet funds.

Many users could easily overlook these items, leaving them to collect digital dust. But this Redditor warned of ignoring the Inventory tab at gamers’ peril.

They added: “Times are tough right now, Here’s an easy W. Maybe I was just living under a rock but I never even knew a market existed outside of TF2 and CS2 items.

“I had 17 pages worth of stuff to sell off of the games I’ve played over the years, the money was just there waiting to be made.

“[It] Felt like the equivalent of digging through the couch cushions with the perk of watching [the] number go up.”

They further explained in the comments: “Steam makes you list each item individually and then confirm the listing on your phone. I listed everything I had for the current market price and it’s been selling.

“I wanted to buy it and start playing last night so the higher priced cards I had I removed the listings and clicked the individual card and it showed me what people are willing to pay right now for and set it to that price when you do that it’s an instant sale.”